PUTRAJAYA: Former lawyer Datuk VK Lingam failed in his bid to set aside his conviction for contempt of court and six months jail for the offence.
Chief Justice Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, who headed the Federal Court five-man bench, in a unanimous decision, said Lingam failed to meet the threshold requirement under Rule 137 of the Rules of the Federal Court 1995 to review the decision of the previous Federal Court panel.
He also said Order 32 of the Rules of Court 2012 which Lingam applied to set aside his conviction and jail term was not applicable as that provision applied only to proceedings in chambers.
Lingam, 67, sought a review against his conviction and custodial sentence under Rule 137 of the Rules of the Federal Court and also applied for him to be discharged by the court from contempt charges under Order 32 of the Rules of Court, 2012.
In Nov 2017, in Lingam’s absence, a Federal Court five-man panel led by Federal Court judge Tan Sri Abu Samah Nordin (now retired) found him guilty of contempt of court for accusing a federal court judge of plagiarism in a written judgment and sentenced him to six month jail.
The other judges presiding on the Federal Court bench yesterday were Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk David Wong Dak Wah and Federal Court judges Datuk Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Tan Sri Idrus Harun.
Lawyer R Thayalan submitted that the Federal Court’s decision to convict Lingam was vitiated by bias as some of the judges who presided on the Federal Court panel should not adjudicate in the contempt proceedings against Lingam as they had sat on an earlier panel hearing a similar matter involving Kian Joo Can Factory Bhd (KJCF) majority and minority shareholders.
He said Lingam never avoided attending court, but could not come on that day because of his medical condition which prevented him from travelling back to Malaysia. – Bernama
